Sports
Mets shoot for sweep of weather-interrupted series at Colorado
May 6, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Mets center fielder Carson Benge (3) hits a two two run single in the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Thursday was scheduled to be an off day for the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies, but the weather had a different plan.
Rain postponed the teams’ Tuesday game, and a snowstorm that dropped 5.8 inches pushed back the first pitch several hours on Wednesday. The Mets and Rockies will conclude the series with a makeup game Thursday afternoon.
New York will send right-hander Christian Scott (0-0. 4.26 ERA) to the mound to face Colorado lefty Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.07).
The Mets, who prevailed 10-5 on Wednesday night, have won the first two games of the series and are 4-1 to start their nine-game road trip.
Scott will start against the Rockies for the second time in his career. The other outing came on July 13, 2024, when he allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings during a no-decision. He hasn’t completed five innings in either of his past two starts overall.
New York can complete its first series sweep of the season on Thursday afternoon. The Mets won seven of their first 11 games, then lost 12 in a row and 17 of 20 before hitting the road to start May.
They took a series against the Los Angeles Angels last weekend before coming into Denver, where they have prevailed through wintry weather.
Mark Vientos, the Mets’ breakout star of the 2024 postseason when he batted .327 with five home runs in 13 games, has been one of the catalysts for New York’s recent success. He slumped during the 12-game losing streak but has bounced back to start producing again.
Vientos is hitting .250 with two home runs and six RBIs through four games in May.
“We’ve seen it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We haven’t seen that in a while, but when he gets hot, man, he can carry a team.”
The Rockies also have a player who is trending upward. Mickey Moniak, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016, signed a free-agent deal with Colorado before Opening Day last year. He hit a career-best 24 home runs in 2025 and is on pace to break that mark this season.
Moniak has 11 homers and 21 RBIs in 30 games — both of which lead the Rockies — and has four multi-homer games already this year. He had a single Wednesday night to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, which ties the longest of his career.
“I see a complete baseball player,” teammate TJ Rumfield said. “I see a cerebral baseball player. I see a guy who knows what he’s doing when he gets in the box. And he looks calm all the time.
“That’s something to take in as younger players, how calm he is in the box and how he deals with pitches, because that’s one of the best hitters in the league. I try to pick up on a little bit of what he’s doing.”
Quintana is coming off his longest start of the season, when he threw six innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Atlanta Braves on Friday. He is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA in six career outings, all starts, against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
May 6, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (6) against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images San Francisco Bay Area baseball fans will get their first up-close look at Pittsburgh prized rookie Konnor Griffin when the Giants host the Pirates in a three-game series that begins Friday night.
Griffin, who made his MLB debut as a 19-year-old early last month, arrives in San Francisco on a nice run. He has hits in eight of his last nine games, raising his batting average from .213 to .257.
“It’s been good to get settled in,” said Griffin, who played just 127 games of minor-league ball before his promotion less than two years after he was drafted ninth overall by the Pirates straight out of high school.
“Just a good locker room,” he added. “Everybody supports you. I’m just glad to be out there every day, working hard and doing what I love.”
The shortstop appears to have settled in on the road as well. After starting his big-league career 1-for-22 there, he has rebounded to go 7-for-20 against the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks away from home.
Griffin has yet to face the Giants’ Friday probable starter, left-hander Robbie Ray (2-4, 2.95 ERA), who hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts this season. Ray, however, has a losing record, with the Giants having been shut out in three of his four losses — including 3-0 at Tampa Bay last Friday.
Ray, 34, is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven career starts against the Pirates, who have won five of their past six games.
Scheduled Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2, 4.76 ERA) benefited from his team’s 19-hit assault in a 17-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in his most recent outing. The right-hander won despite allowing five runs for a third consecutive start, a stretch that followed yielding a total of four runs over his first four outings of the season.
Mlodzinski, 27, has yet to start a game in San Francisco. Overall, he has faced the Giants five times — all in relief — and is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA.
Mlodzinski will try to keep the Giants’ Willy Adames in a slump. The shortstop has a hit in only 10 of his last 78 at-bats, with no homers or RBIs as his batting average has plummeted to .194.
The Giants have scored just 18 runs in their last nine games, losing eight times.
Manager Tony Vitello has cautioned his players that no starting spot is guaranteed. In fact, he sat third baseman Matt Chapman on Tuesday and second baseman Luis Arraez on Wednesday so that he could find a spot for his hottest hitter, Casey Schmitt.
Schmitt, who homered twice in the just-completed series against the San Diego Padres, also can play shortstop. The Giants lost two of three games in the home set to San Diego.
Vitello said he believes resting veteran players can be for their own good.
“There’s going to be days where they’re not playing,” Vitello said earlier this week, “but the benefit of that is that when they are playing, they’re not going to have any excuses. Not that they have, but they’re going to be fresh of mind and fresh of body.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Commanders sign 1st-round pick Sonny Styles
Apr 23, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles is selected by the Washington Commanders as the number seven pick during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The Washington Commanders signed first-round draft pick Sonny Styles to his four-year rookie contract on Friday.
Styles, the seventh overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, will receive $37.2 million in fully guaranteed money that includes a $23.5 million signing bonus. The deal also includes a fifth-year team option.
The Commanders also signed the remaining members of their draft class: Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams (third round), Tennessee defensive end Joshua Josephs (fifth), Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (sixth), Michigan State center Matt Gulbin (sixth) and Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (seventh).
Styles, who was converted from safety to linebacker, recorded 82 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 14 games as a first-team All-American last season at Ohio State.
He totaled 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 53 career games with the Buckeyes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cavaliers Need Major Changes After Falling Behind 2-0 to Pistons
The Detroit Pistons took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers after a massive 107-97 win in game two. Cade Cunningham came through in the clutch for Detroit, the exact opposite of what occurred for the Cavs on the road.
Donovan Mitchell didn’t have a bad game two, but wasn’t able to get it going from beyond the arc. The real issue came from James Harden. In his age-36 season, Cleveland actually expected to get really playoff value out of Harden.
I feel a good description of Harden’s entire game came through with 40 seconds in the 4th quarter. Harden walked it up the floor, dribbled out the entire shot clock down six points, then immediately turned the ball over. You can live with Harden being a traffic cone on defense when he turns it up on offense, but he was simply the worst Cleveland player on both ends of the floor. He finished 3/13 from the field and had 4 horrible turnovers to go along with it.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been the worst coach in two straight series to start the playoffs, and if he wants to change things, he might have to make an insane move and bench Harden. I would love to see Harden contribute as an off-ball catch-and-shoot player, but he can’t seem to even accomplish that. If that’s the case, you might as well just try Craig Porter Jr. to see if he can provide energy.
I’m not sure if Cleveland is truly even dead in this series. Of course, they haven’t found any way to win on the road in the playoffs (0-5 thus far), but Detroit hasn’t wowed me with anything they’ve done. The Pistons’ defense has been aggressive and limited what Cleveland wanted to do, but the Cavs have played right into it. They’ve slowed the game down and relied on isolation, or high pick-n-roll offense right at half court, and it’s been insanely ugly for Cleveland.
Two things have to change for the Cavs. They need to get to the basket. In the third quarter, they made a run to make things interesting, then went right back to isolation basketball, zero ball movement, and James Harden starting the offense with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
However, more important than that, they’ve simply got to make shots. They were 7/32 from three, while Detroit was 14/28. That’s the ball game. I have no idea why Atkinson continually blitzes Cunningham, which allows Detroit to finish a possession with a wide-open three. This is a bad defensive unit that struggles to make the right rotations. Quit overhelping; you’re letting a bad-shooting Pistons team get into a rhythm with easy catch-and-shoot threes.
Rebuilding in basketball is painful, but I’m not sure this Cavs team will ever be a real contender. Even if you somehow manage to get out of this round, you’re still left with a very flawed roster. Cleveland will have some tough decisions this offseason, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re seeing the last few games of this core in Cleveland.
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
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